Reykjavík Grapevine editor-in-chief, Valur Grettisson is back with news about a dramatic arrest made by the Icelandic special forces—a situation which is still developing as this is published. Read on for more information and links. The ‘Viking Squad’, or the tactical unit of the Icelandic police force were involved in the arrest of four men in their twenties yesterday. The men are alleged to have engaged in the production of weapons using 3D printers, the sale of these weapons, and to have conspired to use these weapons against unnamed government offices. Two are currently in police custody. Keep up to date with this rapidly developing case on our website.
An Icelandic man has contacted several media outlets in the country with the offer from a Russian fund to pay for a trip to certain districts in Ukraine, to cover the snap referendums that have recently been called in those districts. No one has accepted this offer. Read more here.
The Social Democrats (Samfylkingin), in conjunction with the Reform Party (Viðreisn), and the Pirate Party (Píratar), have put forward a proposal for a referendum to restart the application process regarding Iceland joining the EU.
Journalists have criticised the police in Akureyri harshly for classifying them as suspects in a criminal case where a phone was stolen from a captain from the notorious fishing company, Samherji. Subsequently, one of these journalists, Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, from Stundinn, has instructed his lawyer to request that the European Court of Human Rights rules on whether the actions of the police against him and his three colleagues comply with the law. Þórður Snær Júlíusson, the editor of publication Kjarnan, has also spoken out about the situation, saying that it is, “professionally and personally burdensome to sit under heavy charges for a long time.”
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Our next quiz sent on Friday. Here’s the question!
Icelandic vikings travelled far and wide according to the sagas. But which ONE of these Icelandic words is NOT an old Viking name of these modern cities?
Hólmgarður = Novogorod (Russia)
Kænugarður = Kyiv (Ukraine)
Mikligarður = Istanbul (Turkey)
Tanngarður = Moscow (Russia)
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